Not A Damsel In Distress This Time Around
by Blazen
Summary: A powerful enemy attempts time travel to defeat Clark, and Lana tries to stop him. But what if she doesn't succeed? Now she gets another chance... as a Freshman at Smallville High once again.
1. Chapter one

**Disclaimer:** _Don't own Smallville or any of its characters.__  
_

* * *

With his last breath Lex revealed location of his latest research facility. She left him in the pool of his own blood only sparing enough time to close his eyes. She haven't felt anything at first and she didn't have time for his death to sink in as she sped away, the world frozen around her. He was just a clone anyway, with no real memories of her. But she couldn't stop the thoughts running through her head.

Only Lex would seriously consider time travel as a way to regain his memories. And only he would be stupid enough or desperate enough to accept help from an alien criminal. She could already feel excitement at the thought of meeting her old enemy again, only this time it would be her in the position of power.

As she sped through the corridors, red emergency lights frozen in mid-flash, she could see the signs of the battle. The familiar green arrow caught her eye. 'Oh Chloe, without Clark here to save the day, why didn't you contact me? I wouldn't have to waste my time questioning Lex in the last seconds of his life.'

She had to stop when she saw a familiar figure kneeling over a body.

"I'm sorry Chloe, but we have to go!"

The blonde raised her eyes slowly. It took her some seconds to focus on Lana. Her eyes were wide and unseeing.

"I can't find his pulse," said Chloe with barely noticeable shrug. Her hands were shaking.

Leaning over Lana took Oliver's wrist and waited. There was no pulse. His neck was broken, and she noticed a trickle of blood on Chloe's forehead. Apparently, Zod just came this way.

"He is dead, Chloe," Lana gripped her shoulder as the woman shook her head. "We can't help him now, but we have to stop Zod!"

She felt it even before the lights came back to life. Whatever Chloe and Oliver managed to sabotage was probably repaired by now, and the power was back on. So she forcibly lifted the blonde to her feet and then picked her up and sped in search of the lab. Lex only gave her vague directions as he couldn't talk very well because of the damage to his windpipe.

She was too late of course. As Chloe stumbled from the sudden change in her surroundings, Lana desperately darted to the center of the room where Zod was already pushing the last crystal in its place. Kryptonian technology of course, the thought flashed through her mind, as she released torrents of green light from her body using her last chance to stop her enemy once and for all. The wave coming from the crystal structure met the kryptonite ray and crushed it and Lana could see in the corner of her eye as Chloe's body instantly disintegrated. She wasn't so lucky though. Lana couldn't move a finger but she could feel as if every cell in her body was heating up. At first it was like being lowered into boiling water then it turned into molten lava. The only thing that prevented her from losing her mind was seeing Zod, the look of pain and terror on his face, as he stood frozen in the same agony as her. And then she knew no more.

* * *

She was lying on something soft and she was warm. Too warm even and she felt something heavy covering her body. Her heart raced as she fought the weight atop of her and suddenly she was falling onto something much more solid and she opened her eyes.

The sight that greeted her was surprising to say the least. She was in a bedroom, on the floor near the bed and she was wrapped in a blanket. The sun was shining through the window and the air already warmed up. As she untangled herself she found out she was dressed in the tank-top and pajama pants, her usual sleeping attire back home.

And even while her shoulder, aching from colliding with the floor, her slightly sweaty body and her sleepy eyes registered in her mind the memories came crashing back into her head with the force of a speeding train. The nerve-wracking agony she never knew existed, worse than getting her powers, worse than breaking her legs, worse than getting her arm pierced with a poker. When the pain ended she was sure she was finally dead. But how could the dead ache or sweat or get sleep in their eyes?

"Lana, sweetie, you have to get up! Whitney will be here in an hour!" she heard Nell's voice. But surely, Nell was alive last time she saw her, only a week ago! Whitney on the other hand. Even if he was here she wasn't sure she could deal with him right now.

* * *

Lana was in a daze as she leaned her head on a cool glass of the side window. Whitney was chatting about an upcoming game or dance or something else, but she tuned him out choosing to look at the familiar corn fields of her hometown instead. She still couldn't wrap her head about the fact that she was back here and not just back in Smallville, but back in time as well. And now Whitney was giving her a ride to school, witch shouldn't be so surprising considering it was a start of her Freshman year and she hadn't gotten her license yet. But she just couldn't focus enough to react appropriately to her current situation, so she was acting on autopilot.

Could she just go with the flow and reenact her life as she remembered it? This option seemed very tempting until suddenly one word emerged to the surface of her mind, a name. Zod! If she came back to the past in mind but not in body, what about him? Where was his body right now? If she remembered correctly, he didn't have a body! He was a mere spirit trapped in the Phantom Zone.

She calmed down a little hoping she was right. It did give her enough time to figure out what to do. Her head cleared and her lips even formed some resemblance of a smile. So the time machine actually worked. She knew time travel existed since she met the Legion from the future. But this was different. She was fifteen again! And out of that damned Prometheus suit!

"Lana?"

Turning her head to acknowledge her - boyfriend? - she smiled at him disarmingly. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

As Mindy, Missy or something like that, she couldn't remember the girl's name, tried to shove a clipboard into her hands, Lana was tempted to just punch her. 'What am I supposed to do with it?'

"Look," she finally said, trying to sound nice and not threatening, "I don't feel very well today, can't you do it yourself?"

Mindy-Missy looked at her strangely, but nodded and took the clipboard back.

"But what about practice? Are you going to miss it?"

"Afraid so," said Lana without a hint of regret in her voice. There were some limits to her acting skills today.

Suddenly she spotted familiar faces across the yard. Her spirit rising she tried to catch Chloe's eye, but the blonde wasn't looking her way. And when Clark started to walk in her direction and she saw Pete handing Chloe the money just as Clark fell, her heart sank. Chloe wasn't that good of an actress to shrug off the death of her husband so soon. Most likely this Chloe was really a teenager, and Lana was all alone against Zod.

She was so deep in thought, she didn't even look at Clark who was gathering his books embarrassed. He was already rising to his feet when she snapped out of it and offered him a smile, suddenly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Clark" she said. 'What are you apologizing for? You can't possibly know it's your necklace that making him act this way around you! Now stop staring at him, even Clark is going to notice something amiss!'.

Shrugging his shoulders, Clark walked back to his friends defeated.

Feeling a hand on the small of her back Lana had to fight sudden urge to elbow the person behind her. Of course it was Whitney again and he was kissing her. She really couldn't deal with it right now.

* * *

She was standing on a bridge looking down at the water. She really didn't know what to do. At least missing the practice seemed like a good idea, she couldn't remember their current routine anyway. Or any routine for that matter.

On the other hand she was changing the timeline. Wasn't it forbidden? But she still existed, it's not like she prevented her own conception like Marty McFly. And she was sure Zod was already changing the timeline as well. Even in the Phantom Zone he was not completely powerless.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a sudden screech. Without her powers it took all of her training and experience with a heavy dose of luck to jump and roll out of the way of an upcoming car. Her heart raced as the car broke through the railing and plunged into the water.

Lana didn't have her powers anymore. But she had more than two years of regularly saving people's lives to fall back on. She couldn't let this person die whoever they might be. She didn't even have time to think about the driver's identity even though she already had an inkling.

Without hesitation she kicked off her shoes and jumped right off the bridge, suddenly glad that she took the time to overcome her fear of water caused by Emily's death a long time ago.

It was hard to see in the turbid water but she managed to locate the car rather quickly. She noted that despite numerous cracks the windshield still held. There was air in the car, that's why it hadn't sinked completely yet. She couldn't see any movement inside so apparently the driver was knocked out during the collision. At least it gave her more time.

She surfaced and took a deep breath. She will need all the oxygen she can get. Diving in the depths of the river again she was relieved to find the car in the same position. Approaching it she tried the door, ready to pull the driver out as soon as it opens. But no such luck, the door was locked. 'Easy, you still have time'. Maybe it would be better to try to get help.

Suddenly the windshield broke. With the other options taken out of her hands Lana swam to the front of the car. The hole was big enough to let a lot of water in but not big enough for her, so Lana had to use her arms to widen it. Cutting herself was a minor inconvenience, because she had only seconds before she would drown. And the driver - Lex! - had even less, because he was unconscious and already inhaling water.

He wasn't wearing seat belt but now it was a blessing. Feeling like her lungs are going to burst, Lana hauled the man out of the hole. Breaking the surface with Lex securely in her grasp she took a huge gulp of air, but didn't waste any more time and swam to the bank.

Trying not to look at the blood on her hands she lowered him on the ground and started CPR. She haven't done it for a long time, since with her powers she deemed it too dangerous to attempt. But apparently she was doing something right because just as she was beginning to feel very lightheaded, Lex turned his head and started to cough out water.

So Lana decided it was as good time as any to finally pass out.

* * *

**Author's note:**_ For those of you who are wondering about Clark's absence on the bridge, he just went home early since Lana wasn't on practice. Lucky for Lex, Lana decided to walk home. And in the original episode there was a hole in the windshield because of Clark, not because of the railing._


	2. Chapter two

**Disclaimer:** _Don't own Smallville or any of its characters._

**Warning!** _Some graphic unpleasantness in the first scene.__  
_

_Added a teaser for the next chapter.  
_

* * *

She was sitting in a familiar chair by the fire and sipping wine. She felt strangely content. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been to the mansion. It was probably more than three years ago, at least for her.

"Lana Lang, a beautiful flower on the cornfields of Smallville".

Lana turned her head to see him standing in the doorway, a familiar half-smile tugging at his lips. Something wasn't right though. From his point of view they'd only just met. But he was looking at her the same way he used to all those years ago.

Suddenly he was leaning over, kissing her. Taken by surprise, she kissed back. She felt something seeping through her shirt, probably wine from the glass she was still holding.

But her hands were free and as she opened her eyes she could see the glass standing on the table.

Finally, she came to her senses and pushed Lex away. Looking down she was horrified to see it was blood soaking her. But she didn't feel any pain. Raising her eyes, she looked at Lex. A corpse was standing before her, its face and neck bruised, and blood still leaking from the hole in its stomach.

The dead man smiled at her, and it wasn't like any smile she had seen on Lex' face. It wasn't malevolent but it wasn't pleasant either.

"So you see what you've done to me!" said the corpse. Unlike the last time, he wasn't wheezing out barely audible words, but was speaking loud and clear.

With a deafening shriek she jumped behind her chair. She was so scared, but she needed to do something, anything!

"I didn't do this to you, Lex!" she said, her voice shaking. "It was Zod!"

"That's what you want them to think! That's what you want yourself to think! Anything but to face the fact that you like to hurt people. That you are a murderer."

"No, I'm not!" She was angry now. How dare _he_ accuse her?

"Aren't you?" asked the man in a softer voice, his body morphing until suddenly it was Clark standing before her. His face was contorted by the pain, his veins visible, his skin a greenish hue. She took a step back, but he followed her stepping around the chair. If she was angry before, now she was furious.

"You are the one to talk!" she hissed, backing until she could feel the wall behind her. "_I _stopped you from killing Lex!"

"So you could do it yourself," calmly answered the figure.

"No," she was shaking her head, "it was Oliver who did it, not me!"

But Clark wasn't listening to her. His flesh was rotting, falling off his face. He reached out for her blindly and she pressed herself into the wall in fear.

"Hey, what about Oliver?" asked a cheery voice from the doorway. "We aren't late for the party, are we?"

Turning her head, Lana saw Chloe, an older Chloe, dragging her husband into the study. Literally dragging seeing as his neck was bent at an unnatural angle and his eyes were closed. Chloe didn't have any problem keeping him upright though.

That was the last straw. Raising her head to the celling Lana screamed with all her might. The bright green light shot from her body incinerating everything around her.

* * *

She shot upright on the bed breathing heavily, and someone was holding her and pressing a glass of water to her lips.

"It's alright sweetie".

Opening her eyes, Lana saw Nell sitting on her bed. She didn't even need to look around to know she was in the hospital. Again. She felt Nell hugging her, and she hugged her back hiding her face in her aunt's neck. She didn't care that she was a grown woman inside, she needed it right now. Lana had nightmares before, but never quite as bad.

After she calmed down a little she let go of Nell and leaned back into the bed. They were alone in the room, but she could see the people outside. Finally the reality of the situation hit her. She saved the life of Lex Luthor. For some reason Clark wasn't there this time, so _she_ had to do it instead. How much was it going to change?

"What happened?" she asked Nell.

"You don't remember?" asked the woman, her face a mask of worry.

"The last thing I remember is performing CPR on the man I pulled out of the water. Then I probably passed out."

"Oh," Nell was visibly relieved. "According to Lex, he woke up to find you lying beside him, unconscious. Your arms were bleeding so he tore his shirt to bandage them." Nell suddenly chuckled. "That's how Jonathan Kent found him, without a shirt, kneeling over you".

"What did he do?" asked Lana, trying to hold back a smile. And then, remembering something, "Wait, who is Lex?" She wouldn't know the man's name, after all.

"Lex Luthor," said Nell. "The man turned out to be Lex Luthor. And fortunately Jonathan gave him time to explain, after he shoved him away from you of course. He got you both to the hospital and then called me and Sheriff Miller."

"Sheriff?"

"Well, they are friends and the situation is suspicious. Lex claims he can't remember anything between colliding with the railing and waking up on the bank. We all thought he actually hit you and was attempting to cover it up. But you don't have any injuries aside from the cuts on your arms. What really happened, Lana?"

Nell's face was deadly serious now, she was holding Lana's hand and looking into her eyes. At the moment Lana could see just how much her aunt cared for her. Maybe their estrangement after Lana refused to move to Metropolis hurt Nell more than she thought. Or would hurt, since it didn't happen yet.

Before she had a chance to answer, they heard a commotion outside. So she asked Nell to let them all in. Them being the doctor she vaguely recognized, Sheriff Ethan Miller, Jonathan Kent and Lex who was actually looking even worse than she expected. She was sure Mr. Kent gave him a hard time.

She couldn't let her nightmares influence her life. Not anymore. This Lex was innocent, and with Zod out there she needed all the allies she could get. So she smiled at him encouragingly and told everyone what really happened, omitting only the fact she knew Lex. Nell couldn't believe she jumped into the river like that, especially after what happened to Emily. But since there was no other explanation to her and Lex' injuries (he had a concussion, wouldn't be his last that's for sure) they finally believed her story.

With so many people around she couldn't really talk to Lex. Unlike in the dream he wasn't looking at her the same way she remembered, but that was to be expected. She decided to wait and see what expensive thing he would buy to show his gratitude, and go from there.

* * *

They wanted to keep her until the morning, so Nell left to properly close the shop. Lana assured her she was fine, so her aunt promised to be back in time to take her home. Meanwhile Clark appeared with flowers, shyly wished her to get well and quickly left. The boy probably ran here at superspeed the moment his dad told him what happened. Unfortunately, Lana only managed to tell him 'hi' and then 'bye'. Only after he left she noticed the kryptonite necklace still on her neck. Damn. But she had to keep it here until she got home and found some place to hide it.

Before long Whitney came in. After a short kiss and asking if she was alright, she had to explain that it was perfectly fine for other people, and yes, even Clark, to bring her flowers. Especially if she was in the hospital. He appeared to get over it eventually, but Lana knew she had to do something soon. Without her necklace Clark wasn't in any danger of being abducted by the jocks, but still.

She could just break up with Whitney but after her disastrous love life she grew to appreciate normal relationship. And Whitney was as normal as she could get. She wasn't going to marry the guy, no, but she was going to do everything in her power to keep him alive this time around.

Her next visitor's identity shouldn't have surprised her so, but she was completely caught off guard. It was surreal to see Tina Greer smiling at her, not a hint of madness in her eyes. Lana had to clamp hard on fear and revulsion that threatened to overcome her. This Tina hadn't killed her mother yet, she was probably still sane, but more importantly she was dangerous. Without Prometheus suit Lana didn't stand a chance against Tina.

It was hard, but she managed a genuine-looking smile and twenty minutes of small talk before finally an orderly came and shooed Tina away.

* * *

**Author's note:** _That's all for now, folks._

_No, it's not. I can't help but add a little teaser, seeing as it will be some time before the update.  
_

* * *

Lana was in a good mood as she moved slowly with Whitney, glad that her bandaged arms didn't bother him. He really wasn't a bad person, she mused. She could see Chloe and Pete across the hall, and Clark was there too with his 'date'. She couldn't believe he ended up going with _her_, and it was all Lana's doing.

Well, that was a problem for another time. Now she was going to enjoy the dance and maybe save one for Clark as she promised all those years ago.

Suddenly the fire sprinklers went off. Just as gasps (and shrieks) stopped and people started to move to the exit, blue sparks shot from the celling and Lana felt a familiar pain of an electric current shooting through her body. Gritting her teeth she fell to her knees, hearing groans all around her.


End file.
